Humidifying apparatus



June 5, 1945. G. R. SIEFKEN HUMIDIFYING APPARATUS Filed April 5, 1943 ATTORNEY Patented June 5, 1945 UNITED ,STAT

ES PATENT it OFFICE 1 HUMIDIIFYING APPARATUS George R. Siefken, New York, N. Y. Application April 5, 1943, SerialNo. 481,861 7 Claims. (creel-104) sive to construct, and easy to maintain in proper Working order. The new humidifier mayftake various forms and, since it may be used to especial advantage in connection with a steam or similar radiator, aconstruction suitable for thatjpurpose will be illustrated and described in detail for purposes of explanation.

Inmy co-pendingapplication-Serial No. 375,-

7'73, filed January 24, 1941, now Patent No. 2,323,-

158 dated June 29, 194.3, I disclosed a humidifier which includes a vessel for liquid, a humidifying unit made up of a plurality of plates of abous forms, certain of which offer little resistance to air flow. For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a vertical'longitudinal sectional view of the new humidifienwith one of the humidifying units removed;

sorbent material having portions entering the liquid in the vessel, and'a cover. The construction of that humidifier issuch that air. rising from the radiator passes between the absorbent plates ina generally vertical direction, taking up moisture from the plates and I escaping proved results are obtained by so forming the device that the flow of air between the moist plates is in a horizontal direction, and the humidifier of the present application is constructed to insure such air flow. Also, in the new humidifier, the rear wall of the vessel, which ordinarily lies close to a wall of the room in: which the device is used, is shaped to form a constriction between: the wall of the vessel and the wall of the room and the jet action of the air flowing upward through the constriction improves the horizontal fiow of air through the deviceabove the constriction. The humidifyin unit employed in the new humidifier comprises a series of plates of absorbent material mounted face to face on one or more rods and held apart by spacers which may conveniently be mounted on the rods and are preferably made of absorbent material. The spacers insure that the plates, when wet, will not warp into contact and thus reduce the total is of any selected dimensions.

. l9, as indicated at Ifla (Fig. 3).

Fig, 2 is a transverse sectional view of the new humidifier; r

Fig. 3 is a similar View of a slightly modified construction 1 Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 -4 of Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of a spacer employed in the humidifying unit;

Fig; 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing another spacer construction;

Fig. 7 is a front elevational view of one of the absorbent plates used in the humidifying unit and illustrates a modified form of spacer;

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view of the plate shown in Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line Ell-9 of Fig. 2. j

In the drawing, the new humidifier is illustrated a including a vessel Ill of any suitable material and preferably metal, and this vessel humidifier will be placed on top of a radiator H, in which event, the vessel will be of about the width of the radiator sections and of sufficient length to cover a substantial portion of the length of the radiator. The vessel is providedwith extension [2 acrossits ends at the lower edges thereof and on these extensions rests a cover l3. 'I 'his cover includes a top I4 and a vertical front wall l5and, when the cover is in proper position, the front wall is spaced fromthe corresponding wall of thevessel so as to provide a vertical passage l6 for entrance of air rising from the radiator. .The .air flows transversely over the top of the'vessel and out through the open rear end of the cover, as indicated atll;

.The bacl iwall of the vessel may be provided with an extension or lip I8 projecting rearwardly toward the wall IQ of the room, or else the back wall may be inclinedtowardthe wall With either arrangement, a, constriction is formed between the vessel and wall l9. Air rising from the radiator and 'flowing along the wall l9 passes through surface area of the unit, and they may take varithe constriction. The effect of this constriction Ordinarily the is to produce a jet action which tends to increase horizontal flow over the top of the vessel.

Mounted in the vessel are one or more humidifying units and each such unit consists of a plurality of plates 20 of absorbent material. A suitable material for the purpose is a good grade of blotting paper and, in the construction disclosed, the units are of square shape, although other shapes may be employed. The units are.

mounted face to face in spaced relation on one or more rods 2|, and in the construction illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, there are three such rods 2| extending through the series of plates. Nuts 22 are threaded on the ends of each rod to prevent the units from being displaced and the top rods extend outwardly beyond the end units and their projecting ends are received in supports of any suitable form. In the humidifier shown, there are single supports 23 at the ends of the units and a double support24 between the units. The supports are pieces of wood seated in the vessel and held in place in any suitable manner, as by ribs secured to the wall of the vessel or by thedovetail construction indicated at 25 in Fig. 9. At its top, each support has recesses in which theportions of the rods projecting beyond the end plates of the unit are seated. Preferably, one of the endsupports 23 is spaced from the adjacent end wall of the vessel to provide room for a float Valve for controlling the supply. of liquid which the vessel is to contain.

7 In order to keep the plates properly spaced on the rods, spacers are employed between adjacent plates. These spacers may be secured to or form part of the plates themselves and when separate spacers are used, they are preferably threaded on the rods. The spacers are preferably of absorbent material, so as to provide additional humidifying surface and the spacers illustrated as mounted on the top rods in Fig. 2 are rods are rectangular. In all cases, the spacers used separate the adjacent plates at a number of points and prevent the plates, when wet from warping into contact and thus cutting down theeffective humidifying area.

As it is desirable to have the spacers contact with adjacent plates over a considerable area,

the'spacers, if made of solid material, would rezontal passages through which air may flow. The spacers may be made of a high grade blotting paper, like the plates 20, or of any other suitable material. If they are made of blotting paper,

they provide additional humidifying surface.

It will be seen that the spacers of all three types are formed of sheet material and have a portion in face to face contact with at least one of the absorbent plates'over a considerable area. Also that part of each spacer that bridges the space the spacers were cylindrical, for example, the' portions bridging the space between the plates would offer considerable obstruction to the flow of air between plates if the cylinders were of a diameter suflicient to provide the desired contact at the ends with the plates. With the construction disclosed, the spacers provide the support to the plates over thedesired areas, but'do not offer a corresponding obstruction to air flow.

square, While the spacers mounted on the lower Instead of using separate spacers, a portion 20a at the top of each plate 20 may be bent laterally and then downwardly to lie against the gated material and it is of such lengthas to be threaded on two rods and preferably rods lying one above the other. The corrugations of the spacer extend horizontally, so that the-spacer engages adjacent plates at a number of points between the rods and defines a plurality of hori- With the construction described, the air flowing upward along the front of the radiator enters the passage l6 within the cover and then flows horizontally through the spaces between adjacent moist plates to escape out through the rear end of the cover and flow u'pwardly'along the wall I9. is obtained, when the air flowing across the faces of the moist plates, travels'in' a horizontal direction and the jet action resulting from the use of the constriction in the passage between the rear wall of the vessel and the wall l9 assists in such flow.

During the use of the device, dust anddirt par ticles are likely to'collect on the moist places, so that from time to time, it is necessary to clean them. For this purpose, the cover of the device is lifted off and the units removed and washed. By making use of two short units instead of one 'long unit, the handling of the untis for washing is much simplified.

While absorbent plates made of porousmaterial, such as blotting paper, are satisfactory "in their humidifying action, it has been found that, if these plates are not held in proper relation to one another, the heating of the plates, while they are wet, by the warm air flowing between them is likely to cause the plates to warp. Such warping may restrict the air flow in the narrow passages between the plates and alsoyif adjacent plates warp into contact, there is a loss of humidifying surface.- -By the provision of the spacers above described, such warping oi the plates is avoided and, as the spacers are of absorbent material, their outer surfaces act as humidifying surface. Also, by forming the spacers of U -shape or of corrugated material, they It has been found that an improvedair flow the plates, means on the rods for holding the plates thereon, and spacers of absorbent material between adjacent plates to hold them separated, the spacers being of U-section and having a portion bridging the space between the plates and leg portions lying in face to face contact with the plates over substantial areas.

2. In a humidifier adapted to be disposed above a radiator adjacent a wall and including a vessel for liquid, a cover constructed to direct flow of air in a horizontal direction only over the top of the vessel and toward the wall, a plurality of self-sustaining plates of absorbent material lying face to facewith their planes parallel to the direction of air now, the plates having portions entering the liquid in the vessel and other portions above the vessel in the path of the flowing air, means extending through the plates'for holding them together, form retaining spacers between adjacent plates for holding them separated from one another and means on the vessel cooperating with said wall to form a constriction for air flowing upwardly along the wall between the vessel and the wall, the improvement in which the spacers between adjacent plates are of absorbent material to provide additional humidifying surface. I

3. In a humidifier adapted to be disposed above a radiator adjacent a wall and including a vessel for liquid, a cover constructed to direct flow of air in a horizontal direction only over the top of the vessel and toward the wall, a plurality of self-sustaining plates of absorbent material lying face to face with their planes parallel to the direction of air flow, the plates having portions entering the liquid in the vessel and other a radiator adjacent a wall and including a ves-' Y sel for liquid, a cover constructed to direct flow horizontally between a pair of plates and vertical portions lying in face to face contact with th faces of adjacent plates.

5. In ahumidifier adapted to be disposed above a radiator adjacent a wall and including a vessel for liquid, a cover constructed to direct flow a of air in a horizontal direction only over the top of the vessel and toward the wall, a plurality of self-sustaining plates of absorbent material lying face to face with their planes parallel to M the direction of air flow, the plates having porbetween the vessel and the wall; the improve-' ment in which the spacers between adjacent plates are of absorbent materialto provide additional humidifying surface andare corrugated and have the corrugations extending horizontally.

6. In a humidifier adapted to be disposed above I the flowing air, means extending through the portions above the vessel in the path of the fiowing air, means extending through the plates for holding them together, form-retaining spacers between adjacent plates for holding them from one another, and means on the vessel cooperating with said wall to form a constriction for air flowing upwardly along thewall between the vessel and the wall; the improvement in which the spacers between adjacent plates are of absorbent.

material to provide additional humidifying surof air in a horizontal direction only over the top of the vessel and toward the wall, a plurality of self-sustaining plates of absorbent material lying face to face with their planes parallel to the direction of air flow, the plates having portions entering the liquid in the vessel and other portions above the vessel in the path of the flowing air, means extending through the plates for holdplates for holding them together, form-retaining from one another, and means on the vessel cooperating with said wall to form a constriction for air flowing upwardly along the wall between the vessel and the wall; the improvement in which the spacers are portions integral with the upper edge ofthe plates of absorbent material and extend toward an adjacent plate and in contact therewith.

, lying face to face with their planes parallel to ing them together, form-retaining spacers between adjacent plates for holding them separated from one another and means on the vessel cooperating with said wall to form a constriction for air flowing upwardly along the wall between the vessel and the wall; the improvement in which the spacers between adjacent plates are of absorbent material to provide additionalhumidifying surface, and have portions extending 7. In a humidifier adapted to be disposed above a radiator adjacent a wall and including a vessel for liquid, a cover constructed to direct flow of air in a horizontal direction only over the top of the vessel and toward the wall, a plurality of self-sustaining plates of absorbent material the direction of air flow, the plates having portions entering the liquid in the vessel and other portions above the vessel in the, path of the flowing air, means extending through the plates for holding them together, form-retaining spacers between adjacent plates .for holding them from one another, and means on the vessel co-operating with said wall to form a constriction for air flowing upwardly along the wall between the vessel and the wall; the improvement in which each spacer comprises a portion integral with the upper edge of one plate and extending towards an adjacent plateand another portion integral with said first portion which extends parallel to the plane of said adjacent plate and in. face to facecontact therewith.

GEORGE R. SIEFKEN. 

